Making Rounds
by Mavennica
Summary: Artie and Claudia must save the Warehouse, their friends, and the world. Will they be able to save each other in the process? Set in the same universe as "How Was the Play?" "What I Wouldn't Give," and "Thee Unto Me." For continuity, I would strongly suggest reading them in that order. Please R&R! :
1. Chapter 1

Claudia stood over her computer, squinting as she tried to read the words on the monitor at such an odd angle. She was troubleshooting yet another short in the electrical system and grumbling about how the Warehouse only shorted out circuits in hard-to-reach places when she heard the tell-tale hiss of the umbilicus door opening and closing. Claudia was so engrossed in her work that she didn't bother to see who was there; everyone was so used to how absorbed she got when she was working on something (Claudia grimaced, thinking of how the similarity to Artie had not gone unnoticed) that she didn't even bother with social niceties anymore. If someone needed her, they would say something. Otherwise, they would leave her alone when she was working, but apparently not today. Claudia could feel the person's eyes still on her. Sighing in irritation, she slammed down her tools and whirled around to snap at whomever was unlucky enough to bug her on a bad day.

Claudia's spiteful words died in her mouth. A complete stranger, a tall woman in her thirties with white hair and violet eyes, was standing ten feet from her. In the second it took Claudia to pull out her Tesla, the tall woman closed the gap between them, moving and yet not moving. Claudia's Tesla fell to the floor as the woman slammed her against the wall, her left hand at Claudia's throat and her right hand over Claudia's heart. When Claudia struggled to get free, the woman leaned in closer, her breath smelling strongly of a lit fireplace and snickerdoodles. Claudia looked up into the tall woman's lavender eyes, her panicked struggles degenerating into uncontrollable shaking. "Who are you?"

The woman relaxed her grip on Claudia but didn't break eye contact. "My name is Evelyn Turner, and I must speak with your caretaker."

Evelyn's voice echoed over and over in Claudia's head, each repetition a calming caress of velveted softness against Claudia's fear and apprehension. Evelyn smiled when she felt Claudia completely lower her defenses. She softly trailed a finger down Claudia's right cheek and jawline. "There, that's much better, isn't it?" Evelyn's voice echoed in Claudia's mind again, and she slumped against the wall, Evelyn the only thing keeping her up. She moved them over to a nearby chair and said down with Claudia on her lap. Softly, Evelyn murmured, "Claudia, I must speak with your caretaker."

Claudia had been lost in a reverie about Joshua baking snickerdoodles for her when she was a very small child. She stirred and raised her head, looking up with adoration into Evelyn's lavender eyes. "Do you mean Mrs. Frederic?"

Claudia breathed out softly when Evelyn began stroking her hair, sending electric tingles of happiness and contentment coursing throughout her whole body. "No, Claudia, not the Warehouse's caretaker. I need to speak with the caretaker of the people within its walls."

Claudia slowly nodded in understanding. "That would be Artie. You can call him on my Farnsworth..." She slipped back into a happy stupor.

Evelyn immediately disregarded using Claudia's Farnsworth. She needed to speak with the caretaker in person; transmitted communication wasn't safe or reliable. "Claudia." Evelyn gently brushed her fingers against Claudia's face again to make her focus. "Where is Artie right now?"

Dreamily, Claudia replied, "He's upstairs in his office, relaxing in his hammock." She frowned slightly, her words becoming sharper and less slurred. "I wish he was down here with me instead."

Evelyn leaned closer, softly blowing in Claudia's face, surrounding her with the scent of lit fireplaces and snickerdoodles. Claudia immediately relaxed, melting against Evelyn. "Why do you want him here?"

Claudia blushed. Evelyn put her lips to Claudia's ear and softly whispered, "It's okay, you can tell me." Evelyn's words echoed in Claudia's mind, pulling her back down into contented bliss.

Slurring her words, Claudia said, "I'm having a bad day, and I want Artie to make me come so I will feel better."

Evelyn smiled. She licked her index finger and brushed a clear substance on Claudia's lips. When Claudia's tongue darted out to lick it off, her head suddenly cleared. She was on Artie's lap, and he has unbuckling her belt.

"Um, what are you doing?" she asked, unsure of how she had gotten there.

Artie stopped unfastening her belt and rubbed his warm hand gently on her stomach. "I heard that you've been having a hard day, and that a little Artie-time would be just the thing to make you feel better."

Claudia nodded emphatically. "Oh yeah, that would be really good right now." She unfastened her belt and began pulling down her jeans when Artie stopped her by snaking his hand down her stomach and into her panties. He covered her soft muff with his hand, gently massaging her whole area. Claudia thrust her hips up to his hand as he slid a finger between her lips, gently caressing her folds. Artie dipped a finger into her wetness and brought it up to her clit, her juices lubricating his finger as he slowly rubbed her stiffening flesh. Claudia groaned and pushed her pelvis up, craving more of Artie's masterful touch.

Artie reached down with his middle finger into the area between her clit and her wet heat, rubbing up and down, dragging his finger the entire length of Claudia's flesh. It only took a few moments until Claudia exploded, keening loudly as she came, dribbling honey onto Artie's hand. Claudia looked up at Artie in adoration as his image faded and the Warehouse office came into view.

Evelyn had hated to drug the girl, but it was the best way to neutralize her, and it had been interesting to watch Claudia's trip. It was obviously a good one by the sounds. When Evelyn moved to get up, she was stopped by the sensation of a real gun touching the back of her head.

"Hello, Evelyn," Artie said, coming around to face her, the gun still aimed at her head. "It's been a long time."

She looked up at him, a rueful grin on her face. "Yes, Arthur, it has." She cocked her head to one side and narrowed her eyes. "And you're the agent caretaker now, eh?"

Artie nodded, his face hard. "That's right."

Evelyn glanced down at Claudia and chuckled. "You've been giving this one some extra attention."

"She is very important to me, Evelyn," Artie said, pulling back the gun's hammer. Claudia smiled widely at his protective nature. "You hurt Claudia, and I'll see to it that your soul spends eternity in the Muses' reflecting pool."

Evelyn blanched. "No need to be that extreme, Arthur." She glanced down at Claudia and then back up to Artie. "I've Raptured her slightly, but I've not taken any of her life energy."

Puzzled, Artie released the hammer and lowered his gun. "Then why are you here?"

Evelyn sighed heavily. "Two Warehouse agents, Myka Bering and Pete Lattimer, were recently dispatched to Romania to retrieve an artifact. They were caught while investigating a Rapture den."

Artie sat down heavily. Rubbing a hand slowly over his face, he asked, "So, um, did you bring their bodies back with you?" Claudia began to whimper with fear.

Evelyn shook her head. "It's even worse than that, Arthur. They were both taken for The Rounds."

Claudia stirred and sleepily raised her head. "What are The Rounds?"

"It's a betting game," Evelyn explained, pulling Claudia off her lap and handing her to Artie who promptly scooped her into his arms. "You have eight players to a round. Each player is given a dose of Rapture, which opens the mind, and connected to a central crystal. They all then play the round, which is a generated scenario. Whoever wins the scenario wins the round."

"That actually sounds kind of fun," Claudia said, imagining playing a solidly-programmed computer game as if she were in it. "What's the catch?"

"The catch," Artie explained, "is that Rapture is addictive in large doses. The Rounds aren't supposed to be that bad because most people are responsible with it, but when an owner has a player that is doing well, the player is often given extremely high doses of Rapture in order to keep playing, and the referees look the other way if paid enough."

Claudia felt slightly sick. "So, it's like dog fighting, but with people's minds instead." She looked at Evelyn and asked the question she feared most. "Do people always come back from the simulation?"

Evelyn looked at Claudia for a moment and then slowly shook her head. "That's why I came to find you. Mrs. Frederic said I was to take the both of you with me to Romania and locate Pete and Myka. My orders are to either rescue them from The Rounds or kill them if their minds are pliant enough to reveal anything regarding the Warehouse."

Claudia gulped.


	2. Chapter 2

Claudia stood up cautiously, waving Artie's hands away as she got her balance. "Listen, I don't care if Mrs. Frederic sent you or not. Artie and I can't both be gone from the Warehouse. There's no one to 'mind the store' while we're gone."

Head shaking, Evelyn looked up at Claudia. "The Warehouse has been in existence, in various incarnations, for over two thousand years. Do you really think that in all that time, contingency plans haven't been put in place for just such an occasion?" She cocked her head sideways, her lavender eyes inquisitive. "Do you even know how the Warehouse works?"

Claudia bristled at Evelyn's mocking tone. "I've been around here long enough to know exactly how the Warehouse works."

Evelyn sighed and held up a palm in Claudia's direction. "Claudia, please, sit back down. I apologize; I meant no disrespect."

Claudia opened her mouth to argue, but all that came out was a surprised "oof" as a pair of strong hands grabbed her hips and pulled her back to where she had been sitting. "You died once to save me from Hitler," Artie whispered in Claudia's ear, his whiskers raising goosebumps down her neck. "I don't want you to die again from pissing off a vampire."

Claudia slowly turned to look at Artie. "A vampire?" she asked loudly, her eyes widening with disbelief as Artie tried to shush her. "You've got to be kidding me. There's no way this person," she said, pointing a thumb backwards towards Evelyn, "is a vampire. Vampires don't exist, Artie."

"To me, her breath smells like oatmeal scotchies and the air just before a thunderstorm." Artie gazed at Claudia with a thoughtful look on his face. "I'm guessing you had snickerdoodles."

"And a lit fireplace," Claudia said with awe.

Evelyn cleared her throat. "While the discussion of my breath is most fascinating, this isn't getting us to Romania."

Claudia laughed nervously. "We'll have plenty of time to talk on the plane." She bounced out of Artie's lap, grateful for the opportunity to do something constructive. "I can hack us into some first-class privacy."

Artie reached out and took her hand. "Claudia, we won't be traveling by plane." Turning to Evelyn, he said, "I assume you brought five of them?"

Evelyn nodded. Digging into her coat, she brought out three View-Masters. She handed Artie and Claudia one each and kept one for herself. "The other two are for Pete and Myka, hopefully."

Claudia turned the toy over and over in her hands. "A View-Master? What do toys have to do with anything?"

Artie smiled, grateful for the familiar comfort of giving a lecture. "The first View-Masters weren't toys. They were actually invented by Harold Graves and Wilhelm Gruber in 1939 as a way for adults to enjoy stereograms of 'colorful and picturesque' tourist attractions." He got up, walked to the card catalog, and pulled out a drawer that was a little larger than all the others. Artie took the drawer all the way out and brought it back with him to his chair. Setting it crossways between his knees, he frantically began picking up View-Master disks and holding them up to the light. "When Edgar Cayce began giving readings regarding the lost city of Atlantis, Graves and Gruber jumped at the idea. They could make a whole lot of money if they were the first ones to offer color images of the 'Lost City of Atlantis.'"

Claudia snorted. "So how long did it take them to give up?"

Evelyn laughed without any humor. "It didn't take them long to find us."

Claudia's head whipped around. "'Us?' What do you mean, 'Us?'"

Artie glanced up. "Oh. Uh, Evelyn's from Atlantis." He went back to searching through the paper View-Master disks.

Claudia was speechless. She knew she shouldn't be surprised by anything anymore, but Atlantis? Artie oped his mouth to continue his lecture, but Claudia cut him off. "Dude, are you serious? Atlantis is real? Like, really real?"

"Was." Evelyn walked over to Artie and handed him five View-Master disks, grinning when he scowled at her. "Most of Atlantis was ransacked in World War II," she continued. "Some artifacts were used by the Nazis, some by the Allies, and some artifacts were taken for personal gain." She held up a View-Master disk. "For example, some of Atlantis's crystals were ground into powder and used in the paper to make these. If you put them into a View-Master, you can physically travel to the destination pictured, be the ultimate tourist."

Claudia cocked her head to the side, puzzled. "Why are you a vampire? Were you turned after you left Atlantis or something?"

"Does she change subjects like this all the time, Arthur?"

Artie looked over his glasses and raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you have no idea."

"Claudia, I'm not some disabled monster who can only get life energy from blood. I was never 'turned.' All Atlanteans are like me. We lived in a symbiotic relationship with our crystals, each giving and getting energy in a cycle. Consequently, we aren't very good at holding onto our own energy, so we need to 'borrow' it from other living beings from time to time."

Artie guffawed. "Claudia, that's the official explanation. What Evelyn left out is that most Atlanteans thoroughly enjoy taking energy from living things. They're hunters. Every part of them is designed to entice their prey. They release a chemical in their breath that acts on the occipital lobe of the victim's brain so that the person smells whatever brings the most comfort. The Atlantean gets close enough to speak into your ear, their voice reverberating along the auditory nerve and disrupting the normal flow of energy in the brain. Their final move is to inject their saliva into the body, either by kissing, licking, or injection via teeth or fingernails, sending the victim into a blissful hallucination, completely unaware that their life force is being siphoned away. Every move is calculated and precise. Atlanteans aren't a race that were wiped out by war and profiteering, they're cold-blooded predators that were decimated by their intended prey."

Evelyn and Claudia stared at Artie wordlessly, stunned by his vehemence. Claudia was the first to break the awkward silence. "But, Artie-"

Evelyn held her hand up to stop her. "He's right, Claudia. Atlanteans are hunters, designed to kill. We evolved to keep humanity's population in check, much like lions keep the gazelle population down."

Claudia felt incredibly uncomfortable at the thought of being dinner on the hoof.

Evelyn continued. "After World War II, Atlanteans settled in a section of Romania called Transylvania. The vampire myths were already in place there, so it was an easy fit. We set up dens, places where people would pay to be under the influence of our secretions which they dubbed "Rapture" for how it made them feel. We began playing the Rounds when we learned how compatible your minds were with the crystals. It became a game to us, breaking the unending boredom and tedium of our long lives."

Evelyn reached over and took Claudia's hands, glancing at Artie to make sure he knew she meant Claudia no harm. "We did this, I did this, and by treating humanity like cattle, we destroyed ourselves. We were no longer hunters following a natural order. We became monsters, consumed by our own appetites." Evelyn smiled, sadness making her lavender eyes a darker shade of purple. "Years ago, Arthur rescued me from that life. He saved me."

Claudia smiled and nodded. "I totally understand how it feels to be saved by Artie." He cleared his throat and became very interested in whatever was near him. When Claudia saw his embarrassed reaction to her hero-worship, she grinned and loved him even more.

Evelyn nodded. "It's because of Arthur that I came here. I remembered what it was like for the people trapped in the Rounds, and I had to come fetch the agent caretaker to rescue Pete and Myka. The fact that Arthur was the current agent caretaker was a bit of synchronicity I didn't expect."

Artie stood up and cleared his throat. "The View-Masters are ready whenever you are."

Claudia jumped up. "Welp, no time like the present." She took a View-Master from Artie, handed it to Evelyn, and then took one for herself. When she saw that Artie had his black bag, she nodded and said, "Click on three." They all looked through their View-Masters. "One, two, three!" She pulled down the handle on the side of her View-Master and took a step forward.

Claudia was in free-fall, the absolute darkness overwhelming her. She tried to turn around and see behind her, see anything, but she couldn't move. Panic bubbled up from the depths of her mind, and when she screamed, the darkness reached into her throat and choked her. Claudia gagged, the darkness flowing into the pit of her stomach and out to her extremities, consuming her.

The darkness was creeping into her mind, trying to erase her thoughts, when she felt a strong hand grab the front of her shirt and pull. Claudia gasped loudly when she broke the surface of the water which had almost drowned her. After coughing the excess fluid out of her lungs, she opened her eyes and looked for her rescuer.

Melpomone was bent over Artie and Evelyn, making sure they were still breathing. The all-white Muse glanced over at Claudia and grinned. "You are rather ungainly in the water."


	3. Chapter 3

The smile fell from Melpomone's face. "There's no time for pleasantries, I'm afraid. Claudia, you must listen to me. You are not here. Do you understand me?"

Claudia shook her head. "Um, that would be no."

Melpomone gently grabbed Claudia's upper arms. "Claudia, you can see that you are in the Shrine, correct?"

Claudia nodded. "Yes, I see that."

The statue sighed. "I know this next part is going to be difficult to grasp. You are here, but your body is not. You feel like you have a body," she added as Claudia looked down at herself, "but you really don't. None of us have bodies right now. I'm not Melpomone, and this isn't even the real Shrine."

Claudia pulled away from Melpomone. "Okay, time out. First I was in the Warehouse office, then I was snuck up on by an Atlantean vampire, and then I was pulled out of the gazing pool in the Shrine that isn't the Shrine where I don't have a body but was still able to be grabbed by Melpomone who isn't Melpomone. What the hell is going on here?"

Melpomone stood up, pulled a long knife with a wavy blade from beneath her robes, and walked over to where Artie and Evelyn lay. Claudia moved to stop her, but before she could get up, Melpomone stabbed down twice, in rapid succession, piercing the knife through both people on the ground. Claudia's scream died away into wonderment as the two bodies evaporated, leaving nothing. Crawling on the grass, Claudia shuffled to get a closer look at where her new friend and her best friend had just been. Not a singe trace of them remained. She looked behind her to see the trail she had made in the grass and then looked back to where Artie and Evelyn had been. _The grass is all straight. I can't even tell where exactly they had been laying_, she thought.

Claudia sat in the grass, taking a look at the place she found herself. This was a good copy of the Shrine, but it wasn't perfect; Melpomone was the only statue, and a gentle breeze was blowing through her hair, reminding her that even though she had come up through the pool she wasn't at all wet. The atmosphere in the real Shrine was so thick with power the air couldn't move.

Turning to Melpomone, Claudia asked in a hushed voice, "Mel, where am I? What happened to me? Why did Artie and Evelyn dissolve like that?" Her face fell. "How am I supposed to get Pete and Myka home?" She looked around herself. "My View-Master is gone." Claudia glanced up at the white statue. "Mel, how am I supposed to get out of here?"

Melpomone sighed and sat down in the grass next to Claudia. "You never had a View-Master. Pete and Myka made it home from an archaeological dig in Romania two weeks ago with a crystal that was causing hallucinations. The hallucinations stopped once the crystal was bagged, so everyone assumed the artifact had been neutralized. The problem was that the crystal wasn't an artifact at all. It was a shard from the main crystal that powered an ancient space vessel. You were the first to touch the active crystal after it came out of the bag, and you've been trapped in your mind ever since."

Claudia was just about to ask Melpomone another question when the sky tore open without warning, a long black rip marring the perfect blue. The deafening sounds of thousands of people laughing, crying, cheering, and sobbing swooped down upon them, nearly flattening the two women to the ground. A strong wind blew over them, knocking Melpomone away from Claudia. When Claudia reached for her, the grass between them exploded, spewing clods of dirt and grass everywhere.

The wind spiraled down in front of Claudia, pulling dirt and grass into a vaguely humanoid shape. The grass clods formed themselves into a mouth at the head of the form and spoke. "Claudia, this is Myka. Can you hear me?" Her voice boomed out loudly, cutting through the cacophany of voices.

Claudia had to shout to make herself heard above all the noise around her. "Myka, I can hear you!"

The dirt-and-grass form turned to its side. "I found her!"

Claudia stepped towards the form and asked, "Who are you talking to?"

The grass creature turned to face Claudia. "I'm talking to Pete. He's right here beside me, where, uh, I am. Artie is here too."

Claudia sunk to her knees. "Artie!" she cried piteously, her feelings of fear and entrapment getting the best of her. "Get me outta here!"

Artie had begun to speak when a white fist burst through the chest of the dirt form. His voice died away as the grass clods crumbled, falling into a pile of roots and mud. Claudia was taken aback, stunned by the look of hatred and malice on the face of the white statue. For the first time, the Muse had a bit of color to her-the statue's eyes were purple. "Mel," Claudia whispered under her breath. "What the fuck..."

"I'm not Melpomone!" the statue screamed. Her face cracked, the purple from her eyes running into the seams. "I am the Muse you are to become, and I am dying!" The cracks ran down her chest and blossomed out to her arms, purple fluid snaking into tributaries. The statue spoke, her words coming out in ragged gurgles. "You must wake up, and you must get home to the Warehouse. I can no longer hold off the Searching. In the next Round, they will find you."

Claudia leaned in. "Who? Who will find me?"

WIth a final cry, the statue shook, coming undone. The fluid had done its job; what used to be a gleaming white statue was now a pile of purple-stained rubble. Claudia leaned forward to touch it, but she didn't get there. A force reached through the back of her to her solar plexus, grabbed her tightly, and pulled her violently backwards. Claudia fell into darkness.

Claudia woke slowly to the sound of cheering. She was laying on her back on some sort of bed that conformed to her body. Claudia tried to sit up, but dizziness made her lay back down. Soft hands began rubbing Claudia's arms. "Easy there, Red. Easy." Annoyed, Claudia opened her eyes to see who had called her "Red."

A purple-eyed man Claudia had never seen before stared down at her. "You've just won the toughest Round I've ever seen played. Two weeks." He patted Claudia's arm, grinned, and turned to his left. "They're queueing up the next Round. You've played so well in this one," the man said, flicking a syringe full of clear fluid to make sure all the bubbles were out, "that I think you've got one more in you."

_In the next Round, they will find you_.

Claudia began struggling, trying to free her arms and legs, but the pillows had grown over them. She rocked side to side, tearing through the fabric. Thick purple fluid oozed out of the burst pillows, coating Claudia's nude body and making her skin slippery.

"Hey!" the man shouted, setting the syringe down and trying to grab Claudia. "Stop squirming, Red!" Claudia grabbed the man's arm and bit down as hard as she could. "Why, you little minx." Claudia took advantage of his distraction and squirmed out of the couch and onto the cold tile floor. She tried getting up, crawling, moving, anything, but the purple goo made everything so slippery she couldn't get a grip.

She yelped when the man reached down and grabbed her hair, sliding her back to him. He pulled her up and dumped her back onto the couch. When she struggled again, the man hit her across the face, stunning her. "You've won me a lot of money, Red." He picked up the syringe. "I'm not about to lose just because you want out." The man tilted her head to the side and jabbed the syringe into her neck.

Claudia felt herself go weak. She couldn't move; her body felt as if it weighed a ton. The man stared down into her face and chuckled. "I'll find your Warehouse eventually, Red, and when I do, I'll be rich beyond the dreams of avarice." The man raised what looked like a tiny shard of crystal. He slowly lowered it towards Claudia's face, laughing at her expression of dawning horror.

A voice boomed out above them. Claudia sighed with relief when the man pulled the crystal shard back and looked around.

"_Excalibur, O living steel,_

_With strength beyond compare!_

_I, Arthur, command you Sword_

_To save my Lady Fair!"_

Claudia clenched her teeth. She gathered all her strength, took a deep breath, and cried out. "Artie!"

White fire erupted all around her. The man with the purple eyes screamed, his face and arms catching fire. The fire burned around Claudia but never touched her. When the man tried to reach for her, the fire enveloped him, pouring down his throat when he roared in pain. The man with the purple eyes didn't get back up.

Claudia suddenly felt lighter, almost like she could float. She cringed when the flames began to lick her skin, but it didn't hurt. On the contrary, it felt quite good. Her skin was clean and goo-free where the fire had "burnt" her. After a few experimental moments of testing various bodily parts and finding them unharmed, Claudia got up and drifted into the fire, her feet never touching the ground.

The flames were all around her and inside her. Claudia could feel the fire lick at her hands, her feet, her breasts, her core, at her very soul, searching out any impurity and burning it away. Honey poured down her legs as she came over and over, the joyful spasms cleansing her spirit.

The fire condensed around her, nearly as bright as the sun. When she dared to look, she didn't see the sun, the moon, or any other heavenly body. Claudia saw Artie, his face worried, his eyes terrified. She floated up towards Artie, and when she saw tears running down his face, her heart burning so brightly for him that the flames around her were dimmed.

She reached for him. "Artie, don't cry. I'm here. I'm here."

When she touched his face, the world exploded with thunderous light, the concussion waves slamming through her. She was falling, falling, falling...

With a thump, she fell off the couch in Artie's office. Looking up, she saw Pete, Myka, and a tear-stained Artie with a sword in his hand staring down at her. Claudia was about to ask what was going on when Artie nearly smothered her in a bear hug and kissed her soundly. She gasped when he let her up for air. "What gives, old man?"

Artie smiled. "I've not been able to kiss you for two weeks, Claudia."

Claudia stared at him. "Two weeks?" She looked around, startled. "Hey, where's Evelyn?"

Artie tilted his head slightly. "Who's Evelyn?"

"Evelyn Turner, the Atlantean vampire who started this whole mess."

Artie went pale. "Claudia, Evelyn Turner died over a thousand years ago."


	4. Chapter 4

Claudia lay on her bed at Leena's, exhausted by the past events. _Vampires that didn't need to drink blood to take your life force? Alien spaceships? A drug called Rapture? A woman who had been dead for a thousand years but seemed alive and well? Dead Muses? _Claudia shook her head, not really sure anymore what was fact and what was hallucination.

She was startled out of her reverie by a knock on the door. "Come in."

Artie, wearing an open pajama shirt, matching bottoms, and black socks, poked his head in the room. "Alright if I come in?" Seeing Claudia nod, he opened the door wider, closed it behind him, and walked to her bed where he sat down next to her. "How you doing, kiddo?"

Claudia rolled onto her back and sighed. "It's so frustrating! I'm trying to make sense of what happened, Artie, but none of it makes any sense at all." She rolled onto her side and propped her head up on her bent arm. "I mean, who is, or was, this Evelyn person, and why did she contact me?"

Artie stretched out beside Claudia and pulled her to him. She lay on his chest, his heartbeat a soothing rhythm. Artie petted her hair and leaned forward to kiss the top of her head. "I'm not sure," he muttered softly, his voice rumbling in his chest and making Claudia smile. "I don't remember that much about her. Evelyn Turner was someone no one talked about, yet everyone knew of her." He began running his hand up and down Claudia's back absentmindedly.

Claudia snuggled in closer to Artie, who smiled when he felt her hard little nipples pressing into him through her t-shirt. Her hand strayed up and began stroking his curly gray chest hair. "Who was she, Artie? How was she connected to the Warehouse?"

Artie slid his hand up the back of Claudia's shirt so he could feel her warm skin. He breathed in ever so slightly when he realized she wasn't wearing a bra. "I had done a little bit of research on her, but when I got to really digging, Mrs. Frederic clamped everything down." Artie shifted; his pajama pants had become slightly uncomfortable. "It was one of the very few times I've ever seen her have something close to an emotional outburst." Artie's hand tingled as he felt goosebumps go down Claudia's back.

"The idea of Mrs. Frederic having an 'emotional outburst' is kinda scary," Claudia muttered, her hand drifting lower to run her fingers underneath the waistband of Artie's pajama bottoms.

Artie used the hand under Claudia's shirt to pull her closer to him, his other hand drifting up to stroke her chin, slightly pressuring. When she looked up, Artie's mouth met hers, a tender kiss that quickly turned passionate when she responded. His hand worked slowly down her neck, one finger stroking that special spot behind her ear, and Claudia's goosebumps spread from her back to the rest of her.

Gasping, Claudia reached further into Artie's pajama bottoms and pulled him out, hot and hard in her small hand. As she kissed Artie, she slowly stroked up and down his length, slightly squeezing the head whenever she got near, until Artie's hips moved with her rhythm of their own acord.

Breaking their kiss, Claudia gazed into Artie's eyes, his pupils dilated with pleasure. Without interrupting her hand, she began kissing Artie's neck, his chest, his nipples, his stomach, his bellybutton, until she was down kissing beside her stroking hand. Artie gasped and panted, "Oh, Claudia, please..."

Claudia placed the flat of her tongue on the base of the underside and dragged it up to the tip in one solid stroke. Artie groaned and thrust his hips, the sensations of her hot breath and wet tongue shooting up his spine. Keeping her tongue flat, Claudia licked around the tip of Artie's hardness. Artie shivered and broke out in goosebumps of his own. He relaxed when Claudia began kissing down the underside of him.

Claudia's kisses brought her down to his his balls, heavy with desire. She gently licked them, matting the curly hairs. Claudia gently lifted them to reach the hairless underside with her tongue. Artie cried out in lust when he felt the caresses of her pebbly roughness. He groaned in blissful agony when she placed her lips on first one testicle and then the other, gently sucking and licking them through the soft hairless skin. His hardness began leaking clear fluid from its tip.

"Claudia!" he cried out, his face red. "Claudia, stop, stop!"

"Artie, are you okay?" asked Claudia, a worried look on her face. She climbed up to his chest. "Was I doing something wrong?"

"Oh, my dear, on the contrary," Artie laughed breathlessly. "I had to make you stop, or I would have come all over you."

A smug smile spread across her face. "Well, my big mouth is good for more than just witty banter."

"Your mouth is good for more than that," Artie growled at her. When Claudia shrank back, Artie quickly flipped her onto her back and had her shorts off of her before she was quite sure what had happened. She giggled when Artie mumbled, "Your mouth is also good for screaming when you come." Lifting up her hips, Artie did to her what she had done to him-he flattened his tongue and went from the base of her opening to the tip of her clit in one solid stroke.

Claudia gasped when she felt him graze across her swollen labia; she hadn't realized she had gotten so turned on by sucking him. Artie dipped his pointed tongue and found the base of her rapidly-hardening clit. He gently licked, bringing her flesh to life in small strokes. Claudia squirmed, the most delicious noises coming from her talented mouth. Artie smiled and pressed in, his tongue losing some of its gentleness. Lick by lick, stroke by stroke, Claudia's clit became stiffer and more sensitive until she was tossing her head side to side and crying out her lust. Artie took her tiny hardness into his mouth and sucked, the tip of his tongue jabbing softly at the head. He placed his thumb at the base of her clit, just above her opening, and pressed in, vibrating the sensitive area.

Claudia threw her head back and screamed as the intense orgasm ripped through her, her clit pulsating, pumping honey out of her core. Moving faster than she had thought him able, Artie leaped up and slammed his hardness into her sizzling flesh. He pounded into her, aching with urgency. Claudia wrapped her legs around him and pulled him to her, moving her hips in synchrony, wanting him harder, faster, deeper. When Claudia cried out as her second orgasm thundered through her, Artie roared his release, her quaking flesh milking him for all he was worth. He stayed motionless for a few moments, the aftershocks too intense for him to move.

Claudia wiggled out from underneath him, Artie nearly falling asleep as he rolled off of her. She laughed when he started to snore softly. Artie looked up at her with one eye opened. "What's so funny?" he asked in a slurred voice.

She laid down on his chest again, smiling from ear to ear. "Nothing, Artie. Go back to sleep-we'll do research later."

As she relaxed on Artie's chest, his steady breathing slowly rocked her to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

The Warehouse office looked like a tornado had hit it, and in a way, it had. Artie had been in full research mode for the past week. Papers were strewn all over the floor, rolled-up maps were laying on every surface, and the chalkboard was covered in Artie's jagged scrawl. He had to find something, anything, on Evelyn Turner, for Claudia's sake. He wasn't about to let anything else happen to her, and knowledge was their best defense.

"Arthur."

Artie jumped and whirled around. "Mrs. Frederic, don't do that!" He fumbled with his glasses, getting them back on straight. "Being scared to death is not on my list of ways to take me out," he grumped as he dug himself out of the boxes of papers he had been going through. "What can I do for you?"

"Something tells me you're looking for someone. Anyone I know?"

Artie scowled and went back to digging through scrolls. "I'm trying to find any references to Evelyn Turner. Claudia said she had been contacted by her, and I need to know what a dead woman wants with Claudia."

Mrs. Frederic slowly nodded. "I see. You do realize this area of research has been forbidden by the Regents."

A stack of papers slammed down on a nearby table. "Mrs. Frederic, with all due respect to the Regents, I don't give a damn. The security of the Warehouse is at stake, and I'm not about to let the Regents stand in the way of what needs to be done."

"Be very careful, Arthur." Mrs. Frederic sounded almost mournful. "There are plans within plans here, and not everyone will let you stand in the way of what needs to be done."

Artie stopped his frantic search, caught by the strange tone of her voice. "Mrs. Frederic, what is that supposed to mean?" His eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What are you saying?"

Mrs. Frederic walked closer. "The Regents are a conservative, fearful lot. They value the safety of the Warehouse above all else, and that includes guarding it against the people who serve it. Now," she said, her tone changing back to normal, "tell me what you've found."

Artie's shoulders slumped, the exhaustion of the past seven days of nonstop research catching up to him. "Absolutely nothing."

Mrs. Frederic nodded and motioned Artie to his office chair. "Sit down, Arthur. I will tell you everything you need to know."

Claudia struggled to get her breath. When she was finally able to fill her lungs with a gasp of air that almost tasted sweet she was so glad to have it, she sat up and looked around her. Claudia began to weep when she saw that she was in another set of fluid-filled pillows that were connected to a Round set.

_This can't be happening, this can't be happening, this can't be happening, this can't be happening_...

Her mind was shocked into silence by a hard slap to the side of her face. A deep female voice, heavily accented, boomed out above her. "Quiet, girl! Do you wish to wake the whole place? You won, isn't that enough?" Claudia couldn't place the accent; it was almost a cross between Russian and German, with slighty trilled Rs. "Stupid girl. Can't even get her breath without making noise. I suppose you'll be wanting up now, yes?" Claudia nodded.

When Claudia was out of the pillows, she was able to get a look at the woman who spoke so strangely. She was fair-skinned and tall, with long, straight, white hair, and bright purple eyes. The woman noticed Claudia staring at her. "What's wrong with you? You'd think you'd never seen me before. Get over here and let me clean the sweat off your skin before you get a rash."

Claudia obeyed, but when she stuck out her arm, she shrieked-her skin had gone dark! She checked what she could see of herself, and she had gone dark all over. Her arms and legs were dark, her stomach was dark, even her breasts had gone dark with nearly-black nipples. "What happened to me? Why am I all dark?"

The woman slapped Claudia across the face so hard her ears rang. "For the last time, shut up!" The woman lowered her face just inches away from Claudia's, her purple eyes blazing with fury. "If you make one more sound, Irene, I swear to God you will find yourself servicing the men who are ripping the stones off the Pyramids!"

Claudia froze. _Pyramids? There were men stripping the casing stones off the Pyramids? Irene? _Claudia hook her head, trying to think. _The casing stones were taken from the Giza Pyramids in 969 AD. That was over a thousand years ago! Did I travel back that far? What's going on here? Why did she call me Irene?_

When the woman saw Claudia open her mouth to speak, the woman balled her hand into a fist and pulled back to hit her. Claudia flinched back and put her arms over her head, but the blow never came. Looking up, she saw that another woman had stepped up to stop the assault.

"Magda, stop this! Whipping a horse who has just won a race only ensures that the horse will never win again."

"I tell you, I no longer care if she wins or not! She won't shut up! Questions, questions, alvays with the questions!"

The new woman smiled. "I know she wins, but you obviously are still unhappy. I can take her off your hands, Magda."

Magda eyed the new woman suspiciously. "You never bet on the Rounds, Evelyn. What use would you have for a fighter who always wants knowledge?"

A knowing smile passed across Evelyn's face. "I have my own plans." When Magda snorted and nodded agreement, Evelyn reached out her hand to Claudia. "Irene, is it? Irene, my name is Evelyn, and I would like to show you something."

Claudia gulped. "What is that?"

Evelyn's leaned down to Claudia's level, gazing at her with amethyst eyes. "A world of endless wonder."


	6. Chapter 6

Claudia jerked awake with a start. She flung her covers away, stripped off her pajamas, and ran for the nearest mirror to check if she were still she. She sighed with gratitude when the mirror reflected her normal self.

Her relief didn't last long. Claudia raced to throw some clothes on so she could let Artie know what she had dreamed. She didn't know if her vision had really happened, but Artie could help her find out.

_Jeans, shirt, socks, shoes, rings, necklaces, check, check, check_. The items flew from her dresser as she pulled them out of various drawers. Claudia paused as she dug through her underwear drawer. _Ducks or bunnies, ducks or bunnies... _Putting on the last of her rings, Claudia ran for the door, her t-shirt covering a bra dotted in tiny leaping rabbits.

She raced to the Warehouse, burying the Camino's speedometer needle. _Artie would be proud of me driving like a maniac, _Claudia thought with a wry smirk. She burst into the Warehouse office just in time to hear Mrs. Frederic say, "I knew Evelyn Turner. Personally."

Artie looked at her incredulously. "How is that possible? Evelyn Turner died a thousand years ago."

"Because Evelyn Turner is the one who recruited Mrs. Frederic!" Claudia smiled with glee; by the looks on their faces, she had gotten one over on the both of them.

Mrs. Frederic eyed Claudia shrewdly, her voice harsh. "Yes, that's correct. How did you know that? Which safety protocol did you 'hack' this time?"

Claudia's bravado slipped a bit in the face of Mrs. Frederic's fierce query. "I, uh, I dreamed it, just now. I was you when Evelyn rescued you from a woman named Magda."

"A dream," Mrs. Frederic nodded with a resigned smile. "So, a pure contact has finally been made." She stood up so fast that Claudia jumped back, bumping into Artie who had gotten up and somehow slunk behind her. "Arthur, hold her tight like I showed you."

Artie wrapped his arms around Claudia from behind, pinning her arms to her side, his hands clasped tightly in front of her. When she squirmed to get free, he only held her tighter. She hadn't realized that he could be so strong. Artie leaned forward and whispered, his beard and moustache tickling her ear. "Claudia, quit moving. Trust me." Her efforts to get away ceased.

Mrs. Frederic stood in front of them. "This will hurt Arthur far more than it will hurt you," she said quietly, a hint of sadness in her voice.

Claudia gritted her teeth and stuck out her chin. "You scare the crap out of me, Mrs. Frederic, but I won't let you hurt Artie."

Mrs. Frederic put her hand inside the top of her shirt and brought out a necklace. The chain was very thin silver, and the pendant was a small star, point upward, inside a circle. She handed it to Artie, who loosened one hand to accept the jewelry. When he put his hands back together, the necklace's silver chain wrapped itself around his wrists, binding them together. Shaking her head sadly, Mrs. Frederic said, "I'm not going to hurt him, Claudia. You are. Not on purpose, of course, but you are."

Claudia opened her mouth to protest when Artie interrupted her. "Claudia Donovan, I do this of my own free will, with no coercion and no regrets," he intoned. "With perfect love and perfect trust, I hold you fast to this world."

An eerie feeling overcame Claudia, and she broke out in goosebumps. _It sounds like he's taking a pledge or something. What the hell is he doing?_

"Mrs. Frederic, what is going on? Why is Artie holding me, and why did he sound like he just agreed to something really really bad?"

"Evelyn Turner is trying very hard to contact us, and we need to know why," Mrs. Frederic said. "To find out, we must go where she is. I will have no trouble there, but you will. You see, Evelyn is in a prison of sorts, where no energy can touch her. She's been there a thousand years, not quite dead yet not quite alive. We must find out what is so important that she has summoned up such an immense force of will to reach beyond her cell. You and I will be affected by her prison as well while we are there with her. I will be able to draw upon the life force of the Warehouse to keep me alive and tethered to this world, but you will not."

Claudia looked down at Artie's bound wrists and realized something terrible. _Old man, what have you done?_

"Mrs. Frederic, Artie doesn't have to do this." She struggled again, trying to free herself and Artie of what was about to happen. "You can hold me here, and I'll find this prison by myself."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Claudia. The last time you were in Evelyn's cell, you got trapped. Arthur had to use Excalibur to break you out, and it was a last resort when he did so."

"Can't he do that again?" Claudia begged, desperate for any way not to steal Artie's life force just so she could go talk to a not-quite-dead woman.

Mrs. Frederic shook her head. "Evelyn's prison adapts, so Excalibur will not work a second time. I must go with you so I can show you the proper ways in and out."

"Claudia, everything will be fine," Artie crooned in her ear. "Just relax and let me help you. I can take care of myself." She felt him grin against her neck. "Besides, this time will be easier since the energy connection works best between people who share an intense physical connection."

Claudia blushed and closed her eyes. She cried out when, without warning, she fell through the floor.

"Claudia," Mrs. Frederic said, "Open your eyes. We're here."

Claudia looked around and checked for signs that she was really there. _Thick air, grass crushed under my footsteps, all the Muses present, check check check. _She sighed in relief and went to follow Mrs. Frederic. The older woman had walked up to the Muses surrounding the gazing pool and engaged them in a conversation Claudia couldn't hear, but she could surmise the substance. Mrs. Frederic pointed at the pool, a Muse shook her head, Mrs. Frederic pointed at the pool again more urgently, and the Muse shook her head but gestured for Mrs. Frederic to continue.

"Claudia," Mrs. Frederic called, gesturing for the younger woman to join her, "there is something you must see before we enter."

Claudia hesitantly walked up to the gazing pool, looked into it, and gasped. _Evelyn!_

Evelyn Turner lay submerged in the shallow gazing pool, purple eyes open, staring at nothing. Her hair was white, and her skin had a rosy glow that looked faintly waxen. She had on a simple white sleeveless sundress, and her hands were crossed on her chest. When Claudia got over the shock of seeing her like this and looked a little closer, she could see that Evelyn was holding a small crystal in the shape of a skeleton key.

Her curiousity won out over her fear, and Claudia knelt down at the edge of the pool so she could examine Evelyn more closely. Mrs. Frederic bent down beside her. "There's no time like the present." Claudia was puzzled for a moment and turned to ask what she meant when Mrs. Frederic put her hands on Claudia and shoved her head-first into the pool.

After an instant of terrifyingly cold blackness, Claudia landed with a graceless flop on the Warehouse office floor. She expected to be soaking wet, but she was clean and dry. "I can't believe she did that!" Claudia said to no one as she sat up. "Mrs. Frederic actually shoved me into the pool! I can't believe she did..." Her exclamations were cut short when she realized that the environment was drained of color. Everything was shades of gray with a few pieces of washed-out sepia here and there. Compared to the room, she glowed like a neon sign.

"Believe me, it was a kindness," Mrs. Frederic said as she materialized beside Claudia. "Going in nice and slow is very taxing on your life force. Are you alright, Arthur?"

Artie's voice whispered into the room. _I'm fine, although you could have warned me, _he growled at Mrs. Frederic. _I didn't know you were going to just dunk her. It wouldn't be a good idea to do something like that again without warning me. She took a huge drink of energy from me when I wasn't quite ready._

"It would have been worse for you if I hadn't," Mrs. Frederic said too softly for Artie to hear.

Claudia began to feel faint. The room spun slightly, and when she reached for a nearby office chair, she saw that her arm was turning the same shade of washed-out gray as the rest of the room. Before she sat down, the strangest sensation occurred-she could almost physically feel Artie's fingers stroking her clit until she felt her core begin to warm. She sat down quickly, her body pulsing in pleasure she couldn't quite control. When her orgasm hit, she didn't cry out in pleasure, she took a deep breath and the room suddenly quit spinning. Her skin had also returned to its normal brightness. Claudia looked up at Mrs. Frederic in embarrassment. "I think I just got a 'drink' of energy from Artie."

Mrs. Frederic raised one eyebrow. "Yes, I believe you did."


	7. Chapter 7

At the same moment, Claudia and Mrs. Frederic inhaled deeply, a strange aroma wafting through the office. A chill went down Claudia's spine. "Snickerdoodles! Oh no..." Mrs. Frederic nodded solemnly. "Gingersnaps. Evelyn is near." She took Claudia's hand, pulled her up from the chair, and strode to the door leading to the Warehouse floor.

Both women stepped into chaos. The layout of the floor was the same, but the artifacts weren't staying put on the shelves. Some were hopping around, some were zigging and zagging across the floor, and some were flying in endless loops near the ceiling. Explosions and sirens could be heard in the distance, and something that looked like a tornado descended from the middle rafters.

Hot air blasted over them for a moment before turning icy cold. Claudia swore she could hear malicious laughter as the breeze ruffled her hair. Tucking a lock behind her ear, she asked, "Mrs. Frederic, what is this?"

The older woman kept hold of Claudia's hand as they both descended the staircase. "When an artifact is neutralized the energy within that artifact is greatly reduced. Since energy can be neither created nor destroyed, the energy taken away by the neutralization process has to go somewhere."

Claudia nodded; now that she knew what to look for, the mess seemed less like chaos to her now. She could see that the flying artifacts were the ones circling the ceiling, that the zig-and-zag ones were mobile artifacts, and that the ones hopping around had bouncing as part of their qualities. She didn't want to think about the dark vault.

"So, what's with the tornado?"

"That is where we will find Evelyn," Mrs. Frederic sighed. "We have to go to her."

Claudia's eyes went wide. "Seriously? We have to walk through all this?" she exclaimed, a sweeping arm gesture taking everything in. "How do we get past all these active artifacts?"

"We will have no trouble at all. These aren't actual artifacts, Claudia, these are merely the representations of their neutralized energy. They have form but no substance. Watch." Mrs. Frederic reached out her arm to a incoming knife that had flown away from the tornado. Claudia screamed when the blade went through her hand.

"See?" Mrs. Frederic held up her open palm. "No blood."

"Whoa." She leaned in for a closer look. "That was cool!" she exclaimed, laughing. "Can I get stabbed now?"

_You most certainly may not! _Artie's voice bellowed from everywhere.

"Fuddy-duddy," whispered Claudia under her breath. She felt him tweak her left nipple in response. "Hey!" she shouted.

_You needed more energy_.

"Yeah right," Claudia growled.

"Children, enough!" Mrs. Frederic glared at Claudia. "The environment here seeks to pull in all energy, which is why the excess artifact power flows here so easily. Energy is also being pulled from you and I even as we speak. I have nearly limitless time here, but you do not."

Claudia gulped, remembering that every moment she was here was taking energy from Artie. The young woman took the older woman's hand and nodded. "Let's get this over with so we can get out of here."

Both women walked forward steadily, easily avoiding most of the artifacts, passing through the ones that couldn't be missed, finally making their way to the spinning cloud of dark air in the middle. Mrs. Frederic released her grip on Claudia's fingers so she could place her hands on either side of her mouth to make her voice louder. "Evelyn! I know you're here, I smelled gingersnaps! Show yourself!"

The tornado turned white and slowed down; Claudia could see the spiral shape of the clouds as they slowly spun. A tall woman with white hair and wearing a white sundress descended from the top of the tornado. Her face was white and gaunt, as if she hadn't been out in the sun in a very long time. Claudia backed up to give her room.

"Irene, Claudia, welcome to my prison." Evelyn's voice had a strange doubled effect, like two people with the exact same voice were speaking the same words at the same time, but one person was ever so slightly ahead of the other. "I know you can't stay here for long, so I will be brief," she said to Claudia. "The glowing object in the middle of the second Warehouse was a giant crystal, called the Heart of Atlantis. The Heart powered everything we had, including the terrible machines used for the Rounds." She looked at Mrs. Frederic with haunted eyes. "To save humanity and what was left of ourselves, it was decided that the Heart should be killed and its location lost, because there was no way we could control ourselves in the use of its power."

When Claudia opened her mouth to ask a question, Evelyn silenced her with a gesture. "There is no time, Claudia. I cannot go into further detail, much as I would like to. I can only tell you this: The crystal in Romania that started this whole mess was a piece of the Heart. When the second Warehouse was discovered and the Heart was rekindled with the death of one of the Regents-"

Claudia gasped. "Valda!" Mrs. Frederic only nodded in understanding.

Evelyn continued. "The small piece was reactivated as well." She reached into the top of her dress and pulled out a silver cord necklace with a crystal skeleton key attached to it. "Irene, take this." Mrs. Frederic held out her hand to accept the object. "This is the keystone that was used to lock the energy pathways of the Heart, effectively killing it. I was entrusted with it when I came here to ensure that it could never unlock the Heart, but now I fear that the keystone is the only way to save your world."

Suddenly Claudia felt sick. She didn't think she would throw up, but she definitely felt nauseated. Looking at her hands, she could see that her skin had grown greyish again. Mrs. Frederic turned to her and shouted something, but Claudia couldn't hear what she said. She could see Evelyn, see that the woman was shouting at her as well, but it was like watching a silent movie. There was no sound, not even the roaring in her ears that accompanied silence. She was just tired, so very tired, and the floor looked inviting. She could stretch out, put her head on her arm, and sleep forever. The room spun, and Claudia realized she was falling, falling, falling, her arms and legs giving out, her body limp as a rag doll, her mind craving the support of the floor. _I wish I could sleep there forever..._

_Claudia! _Artie's voice rang out, chasing the grayness away from the edges of her sight.

_Artie? Is that you? Did you want to sleep on the floor too? _

_No, honey, I don't want to sleep on the floor. Come on, you have to wake up._

_But, I don't want to, Artie. The floor is so nice here. It doesn't move. _Claudia rested her head on her arm.

_Claudia! You have to wake up, Claudia. For me, Claudia, please? Wake up for me! Claudia! Claudia!_

"Arthur!" Mrs. Frederic cried out. "Use the Star, now!"

In the Warehouse office, a sobbing Arthur Nielson knelt over a dead Claudia Donovan. He put the encircled star on her forehead, point going upwards. Artie straddled her so his bulk was on top of her and put his forehead to her forehead so that the star was between them. "Please work," he whispered. When he felt the Star begin to get warm, he pulled away from Claudia's lifeless face, intoned, " 'With true love's kiss, the spell shall break,' " and kissed her.

Claudia sleepily lifted her head off her arm, a tug in her stomach waking her up. _What was that? _The tug became stronger, pulling her up from the floor. _What is going on? _"Mrs. Frederic...?" The older woman sighed in relief.

Claudia began to float, hovering a foot above the floor. When she looked around helplessly, Evelyn smiled knowingly and waved. "Bye, Claudia."

Before she could respond, she was yanked backwards up to the entry leading to the Warehouse office. The door opened on its own, and Claudia was whisked into the office and up through the ceiling. She kept going higher and higher, past the rafters and into the terrifying darkness. She was only there for a moment before she splashed up and out of the Muses' gazing pool.

Claudia kept going higher, so high that the Shrine was a tiny speck in the distance. After what could have been a moment or an eternity, Claudia began to fall. She screamed, the void reaching into her throat to stifle the sound. Faster and faster she fell, her hair whipping strongly, the force stinging her eyes. Her speed increased every moment, and Claudia felt her very molecules nearly coming undone from the force. She could very nearly feel her cells stretching apart, some outside force wanting to spread her awareness so thin she disappeared.

When she felt like she couldn't take anymore, when she felt just on the edge of becoming nothingness, a single thought occurred to her, a name, one that made the outside force howl in madness and frustration when it realized it had lost. _Artie! _"Artie!" she screamed into the darkness, her mind reaching out for him. "Artie!"

Claudia's speed slowed immediately, and she was being pulled in a new direction, towards life, hope, joy, friendship, love. Her movement slowed even further, and she felt herself gently nestle downward into a comfortable, familiar space. Her body coalesced around her, and she was tightly bound.

She blinked. "Artie?" The tight binds released her.

"Oh my God, Claudia!" Artie said, his crooked mouth quivering and his nose red from crying. He held her at arms length to have a look at her and then crushed her against him, holding onto her tightly and gently rocking her. "Claudia, my Claudia..." Claudia stiffened for a moment, embarrassed by his show of emotion, but she gave in and hugged him back just as tightly when she realized how frightened she had been. They sat on the floor together for a few minutes, neither one willing to let go of the other.

When each was convinced that the other was real, Claudia pulled back. "How in the world did you get me back?"

Artie smiled and held up the thin chain, the bright silver star gleaming. "Sleeping Beauty's necklace. It has the power to bring back the dead, but the user must be willing to take the person's place."

Claudia froze. "Does, does that mean you're about to die?" She started to tremble.

Artie smiled and shook his head. "No, I'm not. Well, at least night right now. You see, some artifacts use people as batteries because they have no power of their own." Claudia grinned, grateful to be with Artie while he was lecturing. "A person can bring the dead back to life with the Sleeping Beauty necklace. The 'true love' energy powers the necklace, but if it's not there, if the person using it doesn't truly love the person being resurrected, the two of them end up changing places."

"So you truly love me then, eh?" she asked, running her fingers through his curls and grinning. "You're my knight in earth-toned armor."

Artie laughed and kissed her, grateful beyond measure that she was there to tease him.


	8. Chapter 8

Artie's relief was short-lived.

An explosion rocked the Warehouse sending concussion waves up through the floor. Two large objects flew into the office windows and shattered them, cascading broken glass everywhere. Artie grabbed Claudia and shielded her in his sweater as best he could, keeping the flying shards away from her face. When the glass stopped falling, he looked up to see what had been hurled at them from the Warehouse floor. He couldn't quite make out what the two lumps were, so after making sure Claudia was unharmed Artie stood up and walked over towards them. He groaned and his pace quickened when he saw what the two objects were. "Pete...Myka..." He rushed to them, his thick fingers going straight for the sides of their throats. His shoulders relaxed somewhat when he felt dual pulses.

Myka was the first to open her eyes. She looked at Artie but didn't see him; her mind was gone, lost in a heavy dose of Rapture. Artie tried slapping her cheeks gently, calling her name, anything to get her attention, but nothing worked. When he turned her head to the side, he saw a puncture wound on the opposite side of her neck where he had taken her pulse. _Someone injected Rapture into her carotid artery_. He checked the opposite side of Pete's neck, and he had a puncture wound as well. In his mind, Artie ran through the scant information on Rapture he had come across while searching for evidence on Evelyn. _Person is lost in an ecstatic vision, overdose causes purple irises, purple irises indicate addiction. _Myka's eyes were normal. Artie remembered that Pete had a history of addiction to alcohol. _If a person has a tendency... _He leaned over and examined Pete. _Purple around the edges, damn_. He sat back, thinking. _Mrs. Frederic said that Rapture was produced by the Atlanteans naturally. If Evelyn is trapped in the gazing pool, that only leaves_-

"Artie, look out!"

Artie jumped back as a tall woman with white hair flew through the broken office window and landed where he would have been had Claudia not shouted. He stared at her incredulously. "Evelyn?"

Claudia's eyes widened in shocked recognition. "Magda!" she whispered, too low for Artie to hear.

The white-haired woman's face broke out in an evil, toothy grin. "And what, little man, makes you think I am Evelyn?" Her lips moved sensuously when she spoke, her mouth in love with her teeth, her teeth joyous to be dancing in her breath. "Am I stuck on the other side of reality? Am I a martyr, rejoicing being caught in a whirlwind instead of nailed to a cross? Is it my blood that's synthesized for neutralizing fluid?" Artie was entirely captivated by her voice; it was sultry, seductive, with slightly trilled Rs. He found himself turning as she slowly walked around him, spellbound by the sight and sound of her. He knew he was being hunted, that she was stalking him, and he found that he didn't really mind all that much. Magda closed in on him in an ever-tightening spiral.

Claudia exhaled, gathered her courage, and shakily walked up between Artie and Magda. Spreading her arms wide, she said, "Leave him alone." Magda hissed at her. "Please," Claudia gulped.

For a moment she thought the white-haired woman was going to attack her and eat her face off or something, but Magda paused, a sly smile turning her beautiful features cruel. "Why don't you ask him yourself? Maybe he doesn't want me to leave him alone." Magda leaned in, her warm breath smelling of honeysuckle and cemetery dirt. "What if he prefers me a little bit better than you? What if...he doesn't want to be with you at all?"

"Artie would never say that," Claudia said, shaking her head. "He loves me."

"What are you talking about?" Artie guffawed from behind her. "Claudia, you're just a girl, less than half my age. Why would I love you?"

Sighing in disgust, Claudia refused to be baited. "I know you're using some sort of Sith mind trick or something, Magda. It won't work, Artie's smarter than that."

"I am smart, Claudia, smart enough to know that you don't belong here."

"Artie, stop it!" Claudia snapped in irritation. "This lady's full of crap."

Artie grabbed her and forced her down into a nearby chair. "Until you can learn some manners, young woman, you will sit here and let the grown-ups talk."

Claudia shot up. "The grown-ups are talking, at least the non-glamored ones," she grumbled. She pushed herself between Artie and Magda again. "I said leave him alone!"

Artie pushed Claudia backwards. "I said I don't love you!"

Claudia jumped back between them. "Leave him alone!"

Artie grabbed a fistful of Claudia's hair, snapped her around, and shoved her on the floor. "Get away from me!"

"NO!" Claudia shouted, jumping back up.

Artie slammed his hand onto her chest, knocking her on her back. "I should have let Mrs. Frederic kill you!" he roared an inch from her face, spittle flying everywhere.

Even though Artie was under the effect of something, even though she knew his words weren't really his, and even though he had loved her enough to use the Sleeping Beauty necklace safely, Claudia couldn't help it-tears welled up in her eyes and spilled down the sides of her head, blurring the terrible vision of Artie's face contorted with hate for her. His last line pierced through to her very soul, knocking down all her carefully constructed walls. She turned her head and cried, great heaving sobs that shook her all over. Claudia rolled away from Artie, her arms crossed over her chest as if trying to hold herself together. A sinking feeling spread across her chest, and Claudia sobbed even harder as she felt her heart break.

Grief for her parents, guilt for holding Joshua back, abject loss when he vanished, the helplessness of foster homes, the hopelessness of the psych ward, and the horror of Artie wishing her dead all came crashing down, burying Claudia in a wasteland of regret and despair. She keened loudly as her memories swirled endlessly, the emotional pain nearly suffocating her.

When she was near the end, when the pain was so great that she almost wished Mrs. Frederic had killed her, a light appeared in the darkness. It was a calm light, an oasis of order in a sea of chaos. She felt drawn to it, pulled like she had never been pulled to anything in her life. The light was home, family, comfort, peace, all the things she had always wanted so badly. Claudia was so close to the light that she reached out and touched it. Magda's face and voice filled Claudia's senses, washing away the despair and pain. "Claudia," Magda said, her voice a soothing velvet, "I can help you, but only if you let me."

Claudia swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. Licking her lips, she said, "Please."

"Please what?"

The storms of madness and pain raged just at the edges of Claudia's awareness. _I should have let Mrs. Frederic kill you... _"Please make it stop. I'll do anything you ask."

Magda leaned over the young woman's weeping form. "Will you fight for me in the Rounds, Claudia? Will you be my soldier and destroy my enemies? Will you give up your life for my glory?"

Claudia squeezed her eyes tight and nodded. "Yes, anything you ask, just make it stop."

Magda shrieked in triumph. She spread her hands and flexed, a long claw extending from the tip of each index finger. Clear fluid, sparkling and smelling sweet, seeped from the sharp tip. Magda stabbed a claw from one hand into Claudia's neck, a claw from the other hand into Artie's neck, and flexed again, driving clear fluid into them both. Artie and Claudia spasmed on the office floor, both of their minds lost in the sickly bliss of a massive overdose of Rapture.

Mrs. Frederic walked the Warehouse floor, sick with sacrificing Arthur in order to destroy an artifact. _I'm so sorry, Arthur._..

She came to the edge of the new area where the items from Warehouse 2 were being kept and laid low. She was well-protected from the concussion waves that marked Magda's emergence from the crystal. She saw Pete and Myka at each other's throats, Magda extracting a promise from them and then using them as bait to get the ones she really wanted. _That woman was a monster then, and she is now_. She was aware that risking Artie's life in an effort to destroy an artifact put her dangerously close to monstrosity as well.

When Magda jumped to the office and was doing her worst, Mrs. Frederic went to work. She slunk down the new aisles until she found the Heart of Atlantis. Bringing out the skeleton key she had gotten from Evelyn, she touched it to the various points on the crystal, the key changing its resonance to match whichever lock it touched. _So that's why it appears as a skeleton key... _She finally came to the last lock and jammed the key inside.

The crystal turned from white to clear to red to a solid flat black. Tiny fissures appeared on its surface and spread out, purple fluid dripping. The fissures joined together in a network of lines, and the crystal shuddered for just a moment before falling into dust and swirling away. A breeze drifted from the ashes, spiraling them into a dissipating tornado of nothingness that headed in the direction of the office. Just before it disappeared, Mrs. Frederic heard Evelyn faintly. "Thank you, Irene. I'll take it from here..."

Magda froze when she felt the Heart of Atlantis die. _No! It cannot be! _

She had lost. The Heart was gone, forever this time, and she had lost. Rage built up within her and spilled out into the room. "Irene!" she shrieked, her beautiful voice gone raspy with madness. "I shall destroy everything you hold dear, Irene!" Magda went round and round the room, circling the unconscious people on the floor. "I will not lose this Round! I never lose when we're making Rounds!" She threw back her head and bellowed. "Irene!"

A tornado of nothingness, spinning out of control yet staying still, reached through the broken office window. An arm shot out, and Magda screamed in panic when Evelyn stepped out of the non-existent wind.

"This Round is over, Magda." Evelyn's voice was eerie, sounding both close and far away. "You have lost."

"No! Let me go, you murderous demon!" Magda scrambled to get away, but Evelyn's grip was iron. "You killed our race when you had Irene destroy the crystal!"

"I stopped our race from raping this planet," Evelyn said matter-of-factly. "However, what I have done is not the issue. Your actions are the issue. You have declared a Round upon this world, and you have lost it. As a representative of the winning party, I am able to choose my reward."

Magda's eyes went wide. "You wouldn't..."

Evelyn nodded. "Indeed I would, and my choice of reward is this: You will take my place as the engine that powers the dampening field of the Warehouse. Your eternal need for energy shall serve as a black hole, pulling the excess energy from artifacts to you and through you, never keeping any for yourself." She leaned in closer to Magda, their noses almost touching. "You tried to damn this world to eternal slavery, so I damn you to be its eternal salvation."

Magda's control broke; she screamed and tried to run, but it was no use. The tornado eclipsed her, pulling her apart bit by bit. Magda cried out in agony as the wind scraped her away, pulling her to the other side. She reappeared in the middle of the whirlwind on the other side, her screams coming out in silence.

Evelyn sat up and took a deep breath, the deepest breath she had ever taken in her long life. White statues gathered around and happily greeted her, embracing her in their stony warmth. She stepped up and out of the pool, her legs a little shaky at first. When one of the statues came to her aid, Evelyn stared at her face a moment and then fell to her knees crying, sobbing for all she was worth. She cried for her past, her present, and for a future she didn't think she would ever get to have. The statue with Mrs. Frederic's features simply rocked the newest muse, pearls of wisdom falling from every statue around them.

Leena burst into the office, holding the door open for Mrs. Frederic. They came upon Pete and Myka first, who were just stirring. After making sure they were okay, Leena ran to Artie and Claudia. She ran her hands over their backs, gently waking them. The sleeping pair sat up and blinked.

"Oh my God," Leena gasped.

Artie's and Claudia's eyes were both a bright, vivid purple.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: This chapter includes an undercurrent I've picked up on in the show that I've not seen in fanfiction anywhere else. Perhaps I'm the only one who sees it. *shrug***

Incoherent voices played around Artie's awareness, hushed and reverent. They came and went, at no particular interval, and at first he paid them no mind. The voices were simply there, and Artie was content to let them be where they wanted.

After a time, the voices became louder, more in focus. Artie could pick up the occasional word here and there, but nothing of consequence. Sometimes their owners stayed a while, sometimes not. He began to identify whose voice was whose, so he could tell who was in his room with him. Pete, Myka, Leena, and Mrs. Frederic came in and out at infrequent intervals, but never Claudia. _Where was Claudia?_

Myka was his most frequent visitor. She would sit and read to him, sometimes for hours, only stopping for the occasional drink of water. At first Artie could only make out a few words, but it didn't bother him. He enjoyed her familiar company, and the sound of her voice was a soothing balm against the painful darkness that threatened to eat through his mind. _But where was Claudia?_

One day, when Myka finished her most recent book, she set it on her lap and said thoughtfully, "What should I read to you next, Artie?" She leaned over and brushed a stray curl from his forehead, smiling sadly. "What would you like to hear, my friend?" She jumped when Artie reached up and grabbed her wrist, his grip surprisingly strong.

"Myka," he croaked, his voice coarse from not using it, "where is Claudia?"

Myka's throat closed as she fought back tears. _ In Warehouse 2, we all thought of the people we treasured most. Helena thought of her lost daughter, Pete thought of his girlfriend Kellie, and whom did I think of, Artie? I thought of you. _"She's in a room similar to yours across the hall. That's why she's not been able to come see you." She shook herself, her logical mind immediately throttling back her unrequited emotions. _Of course he is thinking of Claudia. Why shouldn't he be? Just be grateful that he woke up at all. _

"When can I go see her?"

Myka got up from her chair. "Let me go get Leena. She could answer that question for you better than I could." She got up and fairly ran to the door, anything to get out of his room. She paused a moment when he called her name. "Myka."

She turned around to face him, one hand on the doorknob, the other one on the frame, steadying herself. "Yes, Artie?"

He gave her a knowing look. _She never told anyone what she saw at Warehouse 2, she stayed here practically night and day, and she pulls to the right only for me. Damn_. "Thank you."

Myka smiled and nodded, unshed tears making her eyes bright. "You're very welcome." Before he could say anything else, she fled through the door, closing it softly behind her.

Artie hurt everywhere. Pain shot from the base of his skull down his spine and radiated out, lighting his nerves on fire. The pain throbbed and stabbed and scraped, making him feel icy cold one second and blazing hot the next. Purple sweat poured out of him, soaking the bed on which he lay and staining the mattress. He was constantly uncomfortable, but when he tried to find a better position his sheets felt like sandpaper, so he only moved when absolutely necessary. He was in the process of trying to roll over without passing out from the pain when a soft knock came at his door.

"Come in," he rasped, his throat dry.

"Your sweat is a lighter shade of lavender today, Artie. I think you just might be over the hump." Leena fixed him with a smile that was too bright.

"Where am I?" Artie wheezed out each word, gasping and grimacing as his lungs were set ablaze in pain.

Leena pulled a small plastic L-shaped tube out of per pocket and put it near Artie's mouth. When he jerked back, she said, "Relax, Artie, it's just an albuterol inhaler for your lungs." He nodded, and she put the inhaler up to his open mouth. Artie inhaled rapidly when she pressed down, and after a moment let out his breath in a series of coughs. When he recovered, Leena gave him another puff from the inhaler and put it back in her pocket. "There, better?"

Nodding, Artie coughed once more and asked in a clearer voice, "Where am I?"

"You're in one of the recovery rooms in the basement of the B and B," Leena answered, busily laying out towels and moistening a large, soft sponge. "You've been down here for nearly a month."

Artie's eyes widened in disbelief. "A month?" he asked incredulously, grimacing when the pain of moving his head nearly made him sick. "There's no way I've been down here a month."

Leena wrung the excess water out of the sponge. "Well Artie," she sighed, "time passes with or without your permission." He turned his head just enough to give her a dirty look.

His dirty look turned to one of apprehension when Leena came near him with the sponge and towels. He drew away from her, wincing with pain as the soft sheets abraded his skin. "What are you doing?"

"It's called a sponge bath, Artie," Leena answered, annoyed at his reaction. "How else do you think you've stayed clean?"

Mortified, Artie let her wipe him down, Leena repeatedly rinsing the sponge whenever it got too violet a hue. He relaxed when the sponge didn't hurt his skin, but he tensed up when she got near his groin, flushing with embarrassment. "Artie, I do have some medical training, so once you've seen one, you've seen them all." He blushed even redder but let her continue.

When she was done she dried him off carefully, doing her best not to hurt his sensitive skin. The towels were far rougher than the clean sheets he now lay upon, but they felt smooth as silk. Leena smiled when she noticed him looking at them. "It's not the towels, you know, not even the sponge."

Dreamily, Artie asked, "Then what makes them feel so good on my skin when my sheets feel so rough?" Leena reached up into her hair and pulled out a shiny metal object and held it out for Artie to see. "Of course, Hippocrates' Caduceus! 'First Do No Harm,' " he quoted. Leena smiled.

"According to Mrs. Frederic, Rapture withdrawal is extremely painful and nearly always fatal without the proper treatment. Keeping the caduceus on me lets me treat you without hurting you, and since I need both hands free, Myka had the idea to set it as a pin in my hair."

Artie gave her a puzzled look. "Rapture withdrawal?"

"Artie, don't you remember?" Leena leaned forward, her voice full of concern. "Pete and Myka flying into the office, Evelyn defeating Magda, broken glass everywhere?" He stared at her blankly. Leena licked her lips, her tone careful. "The things you said to Claudia?" Artie began to shake. Leena sighed with worry. _ I need to know what's going on here. _She concentrated on Artie and went into him, reading his aura to ascertain his mental state.

A ghostly image of Artie sat up in the bed and turned to speak to her. "In a few moments, I am going to remember what I said, and even though the words weren't mine, I will treat them as if they were my own. I will remember the sight and sound of Claudia broken and weeping on the floor. I will know that I did that to her, that my face twisted in hateful rage was her last memory of me, and in gaining that knowledge, I will break." The figure slowly dissipated as Leena lost her concentration.

Claudia was in a fight for her very life. She had had the same amount of Rapture as Artie, but she was far smaller, so the effective dosage was higher. Purple sweat ran down her body constantly, and countless nosebleeds had left her nostrils sore and tender.

Terrible thoughts ran through her mind, haunting her night and day. She constantly lived the deaths of those around her who mattered most, especially Artie. She saw him die numerous ways, gunshot, stabbing, suffocation, mutilation, drowning. Each time she saw him die, she felt a little bit emptier, the darkness eating away at her soul.

Her only visitor was Mrs. Frederic. Claudia had spent countless nights writhing in agony, her mind twisting itself in knotted hallucinations, only to wake up to Mrs. Frederic cleaning her with a soft sponge, a look of pained understanding on her ebony face. Claudia remembered the scene from long ago, of Evelyn Turner rescuing a young black woman from a short life of drug-addicted slavery, and she was suddenly grateful that it was Mrs. Frederic who was tending to her. She had gone through this same process, so she could empathize. Claudia closed her eyes and wept for that small black girl who went through Rapture withdrawal in the company of strangers. Mrs. Frederic simply dabbed Claudia's cheeks in quiet understanding.

During one of Claudia's first lucid moments, she asked, "What is happening to me?" Her voice had a tone of quiet desperation. "Have I finally gone crazy?"

Mrs. Frederic shook her head. "Rapture is a hormone, Claudia. It acts on the central nervous system differently in males and females. Artie is in tremendous physical pain, but you are in tremendous emotional pain. You aren't in the immense agony he is, but his wounds will heal far more quicklly."

Claudia pondered for a moment. "How long does this last? Am I near the end of it?"

A single tear, the only betrayal of Mrs. Frederic's emotion, fell down her cheek and onto the bed. It frightened Claudia beyond measure to see such a reaction. "I'm sorry, Claudia. It's only just begun."

Mrs. Frederic watched helplessly as Claudia's pupil's dilated, signaling the start of another round of hallucinations. The young woman's head was thrown back as a grand mal seizure wracked her small frame, her face contorting into a grimace. Mrs. Frederic touched Claudia, drawing out the excess bioelectricity so she would stop seizing. Claudia's form lay still, breathing deeply, lost in the terrible hallucinations females experienced while processing Rapture out of their bodies.

A white form coalesced out of the air beside Mrs. Frederic. "You're doing all the right things, Irene, just as I taught you."

Mrs. Frederic turned and smiled grimly. "Thank you for the compliment, Evelyn, but I had hoped never to put that knowledge to use again." She turned back to gaze at Claudia. "It's the 'status epilepticus,' the neverending seizure, that kills the females. Pull out the excess electricity in the brain, and the hallucinations will pass of their own accord."

"You know that pulling the energy off at regular intervals will do the trick," Evelyn said. She cocked her head, looking sideways at Mrs. Frederic. "You don't need to be here watching her."

Mrs. Frederic sighed. "We all deal with our guilt in different ways, Evelyn. My way simply doesn't involve inhabiting a cyclone for a thousand years."

Evelyn nodded in understanding, her form beginning to fade. "So true, Irene. So true..."

"_I should have let Mrs. Frederic kill you!_"

The words echoed over and over in Artie's mind, damning in their repetition. He saw his face as it appeared to Claudia, how monstrous he had looked, so flushed and wild. He saw how her face had crumpled at the sight of him, how she crossed her arms over herself and wept, sobbing so hard that her whole body shook. Artie saw what he had done to Claudia, how he had yelled at her, pulled her hair, and slammed her down to the floor. He looked up at Leena with horror in his eyes.

"Oh God, Leena, how could I have done that to her?" His gazed into the distance, his voice cracking with emotion. "I'm a monster, aren't I?"

Leena jumped up, her arms going around him. "No no no! You're not a monster, Artie! You were being controlled! You didn't mean what you said!"

"It doesn't matter, does it? Claudia thinks I'm a monster. That's why she hasn't come to see me."

Leena pulled away from him in confusion. "What?"

Artie looked at her, his eyes wild and unsteady. "She knows what I did to her, that I wished her dead, and that's why she's been ignoring me." He fixed Leena with such a despairing look that she was suddenly afraid to leave him alone. "She hates me, doesn't she?"

"Artie, Claudia doesn't hate you," Leena said, trying her best to calm him down. "What you need to do is lie back and rest." She carefully maneuvered Artie back onto his pillow.

"Forgive me, Claudia," he whispered over and over, lost in his mind.

The door to Artie's room opened slowly. When Leena turned to see who it was, Claudia, clean and dressed, stepped inside and shut the door softly behind her.

Leena stood up in shock. "_Claudia?" _The young woman silently shushed her.

Artie sat up, the sight of Claudia rousing him from the pillow. He opened his arms and reached for her. "Oh God, Claudia," he groaned, his face a mask of pain and shame. "I'm so sorry, kiddo. I didn't mean it when I said, well, what I said. I swear I didn't."

Claudia came over to Artie's bed and sat beside him. "Hey, old man, forget about it. I know you didn't mean it. You were under the influence. It's cool."

For the first time, Artie looked hopeful. "You mean it? You don't hate me?" He smiled. "I'm not a monster?"

Claudia leaned forward, so close to Artie she could feel the warmth that radiated from him. "I could never hate you, Artie." She smiled, emotion making her next words shaky. "I love you too much." Artie beamed.

"Now," Claudia said, standing up from the bed, "you need your rest. You have to get better so you can come bug me in the office again." She made to step away when Artie lunged for her. He pulled her into a hug and kissed her solidly. Claudia melted into him eagerly, running her shaking fingers through his curls as her tongue explored his, caressing its pebbly surface.

Leena cleared her throat.

Claudia pulled back, slightly embarrassed. "I think we'll wait until we don't have an audience."

Artie laughed and nodded. He cupped her face with his hands, looking deep into her eyes. "I love you."

Claudia blushed. "You have no idea how much I love you too," she said breathlessly. She stayed until Artie laid back down and slept, the first healing sleep he'd had in a long time.

Leena gazed over at Claudia, admiration and sadness on her face. "You didn't have to do that for him, you know."

The young woman nodded, tears forming in her eyes. "Yes I did, Leena. It was the only way he wouldn't die." She glanced once more at Artie's sleeping form before leaving the room.

Claudia began to cry as she slumped against the wall and slid down to the floor. Bringing up her left hand, she pulled Hariett Tubman's thimble off of her pinky finger. Alone in a corner of the hallway where no one could see or hear, Myka wept.


	10. Chapter 10

Artie awoke slowly, coming up from unconsciousness by degrees. He moved his arms and legs, delighted to find that nothing hurt. He sat up, jumped when he realized he was in bed naked, but relaxed when he saw that a pair of slippers, pajama bottoms, a white cotton t-shirt, and his bath robe had been laid out for him on the chair next to his bed. Artie paused before putting them on, not wanting to put clean clothes on his dirty body, but he wasn't sweaty or greasy at all. _Leena works miracles with sponges, _he thought. He put on the pajamas and t-shirt, draping the bath robe over the back of the chair.

Clad in the comfortable cotton material, Artie sat in the chair, his legs shaky. _Pathetic that putting on clothes made me tired_. He looked around the room, enjoying the quiet. _Just be glad you're sitting in the chair, old man_. After a moment, he bent over and put on the slippers. Looking to his left, Artie saw a small bathroom. _How long since I've trimmed my beard? _

Artie got up and shuffled to the bathroom door, holding onto the doorway a moment before going in. He looked around as he peed, noting a brand new toothbrush along with toothpaste and mouth rinse. Artie brushed his teeth and gargled, spitting into the sink. When he finally dared look at himself in the mirror on the medicine chest, brown eyes gazed back at him. Artie sighed in relief and smiled as he rubbed his freshly-trimmed beard. _Thanks for the upkeep, Pete_.

He jumped when a sudden thump hit the outside wall of the bathroom, shaking the walls and knocking the medicine chest askew. Artie scowled at his crooked reflection. _I'll have Claudia fix it._

_Claudia! _The events of the past day rushed back, and he stood paralyzed as the memories flooded his mind: waking up in pain, Claudia sick across the hall, Claudia walking in as if nothing were wrong. _What the hell?_

Another thump hit the outside wall, harder than the first, and Artie backed away in alarm. He could hear screams now, muffled as the sound passed through the walls. Artie went back to the chair and put on his bathrobe, irrationally feeling safer with the belt tightly around him. Another thump hit the wall, even harder than the second one, shattering the mirror on the medicine chest as it finished falling, and the door to his room rattled as it shook against the catchplate. _What on earth is going on out there? _Artie walked to the door to his room and slowly opened it, keeping the door between the hallway and himself. He peeked through into chaos.

Medical supplies were strewn all over the floor, an endless mess of wrappers and plastic. A strong breeze blew through the hallway, sending papers and other bits flying. Pete and Myka lay on the floor to the right. _So that's what hit the wall. _

Claudia stood in the doorway to her room, wind blowing strongly around her, making her hair wild. Redness dripped from her nose onto a blood-stained shirt. She noticed Artie peeking out of his room. "Artie!" she shrieked, her violet eyes widened in madness and fury. "You did this to me!" Claudia walked toward him menacingly, a sneer twisting her face into a mask of rage. "This is all your fault!"

Artie could only stare. _Oh, Claudia. _Her skin was pale and sickly, the circles under her eyes so dark they looked like bruises. The hair that wasn't moved by the strange wind hung in sweat-soaked clumps, and the blood from her nose mixed with the sweat on her neck, making a gruesome trail down to her ruined shirt. Her fingers curved into her hands like claws, and she was slightly bent over, her body trying its best to remain upright.

He couldn't help himself. Artie went to her, his arms outstretched, wanting nothing more than to comfort her, take away her tears, and clean the blood from her poor nose. He remembered how she looked on the floor of Joshua's lab, how incredibly afraid for her he was when he saw her essence leaching away. He had held her then, his embrace the only thing keeping her alive, and he wanted to hold her now, to protect her from the dangerous world in which they found themselves.

Pete groaned. He tried to sit up, fell back down when the hallway spun end over end, and sat up a little slower. He hung his head between his knees, willing the dizziness to stop. When his stomach no longer felt like it was going to crawl out his mouth, he looked up and saw Artie perilously close to Claudia. "Artie, stop! She'll kill you!"

"No she won't, Pete," Artie said serenely, taking another step closer. "I'm all she's got left."

"I should kill you," Claudia said through clenched teeth. "You take away my brother, destroy my life, make me live this nightmare." She gestured wildly, catching the door frame so she wouldn't fall over. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you."

His voice was soft, conveying comfort and safety as he walked closer. "Because I love you."

Claudia sneered. "You don't love me, you love a building full of dust and stale artifacts. I"m just a fuck, old man, something to keep you warm on a cold night. I mean nothing to you."

Her words stung him. _Oh God, you have no idea how wrong you are_. "No, Claudia, you mean everything to me." He took the last few steps and embraced her.

Thunder with no sound, a series of silent concussion waves, echoed through the building. Claudia held onto Artie as tightly as she could, her body shaking. "I didn't mean it, Artie, I didn't mean it! I love you, I love you, I love you..."

Artie sat down on the floor, bringing Claudia with him. He untied his robe and pulled her close, wrapping it around both of them. Claudia leaned into him and cried, gut-wrenching sobs that made it hard to breathe. Artie held her close, rocking her gently, whispering soothingly to her as he stroked her wet hair. Claudia left a purple stain on his shirt as she cried the last of the Rapture out of her eyes.

Claudia was at the door to Artie's room at the Warehouse. She had come in ready to work, but he had left her a note on her desk in the office:

"_C-_

_Come to my bedroom. I have something for you._

_-A"_

Claudia smirked wickedly. "Yeah, I'll bet you have something for me, old man." She put her stuff away and trotted to Artie's room, humming happily along the way.

"Knock knock!" she said cheerfully, opening the door.

Artie darted out from behind it, startling her. She giggled as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her solidly. He guided them toward the bed, kicking the door shut behind them. He paused kissing her long enough to put his thumb against a small plate to the side of the door. "Tempus fugit." The door shimmered for a moment and returned to normal.

"Hey, what was that?"

Artie grinned. "Tempus fugit-'time flies.' We can spend all the time we want in here, and only a moment will have passed for anyone outside this room."

"Kinky."

Artie slowly undressed her, pausing to savor every moment. "My dear, you have no idea." He lay Claudia on her back, gently caressing every inch of her skin, his beard rough, his lips soft.

Claudia was so into the feelings Artie gave her that she didn't notice him removing his clothes until he was on the bed with her, naked. He smiled wickedly.

"What?" Claudia asked, breathless from his attention and intrigued beyond measure at the look on his face. "What's that all about?" she asked, gesturing at his evil smile.

"If you will remember, my note said that I had something for you." He reached behind his pillow and pulled out an ornate black box. He held it out to Claudia and opened it. Inside was a small black flower, no bigger than a quarter. "This is from the Mae West aisle. It's called a glory blossom."

Claudia sat back and stared at the flower. "Whoa." The artifacts in the Mae West aisle were notoriously sexual. She looked up at Artie. "Are you sure about this?"

He fixed her with a gaze that was puzzlingly serious. "More certain that I've ever been in my life."

After a moment, she nodded. Artie gently took the small black flower out of the box and stuck it behind Claudia's ear. An intense sexual rush immediately flashed all over her, making her skin sizzle. She began to pant. "If you don't do something quick, Artie, I'm going to rape you." He chuckled as he put the box back behind his pillow.

Artie kissed her neck, nuzzling her with his beard the way she liked. He slowly worked his way down to her chest, his tongue licking her nipples to full attention. He sucked one and then another, pulling the small tips into his mouth and lightly flicking his tongue on them. He went from breast to breast, spending time on them, making love to her flesh.

Claudia was on fire. Each stroke of his tongue, each brush of his gray whiskers, made the nerve endings in her skin explode with ecstasy. Her whole body became nearly as sensitive as her clit, every inch of her alive with pleasure. She groaned uncontrollably when Artie ran his tongue down her stomach and settled himself between her legs. His breath on her was erotic, and she swore she could feel his heartbeat, the motion inside his chest adding to her delight.

Artie barely brushed his tongue against the edge of her flesh, and Claudia cried out, the intense sensation almost unbearable. He slowly worked his way into her, opening her bit by bit, sending her into a delirium of sexual bliss. When he finally reached her clit, her core was pouring honey, soaking his beard.

"Artie, I need to come..." Claudia was breathless, her mind lost in a sea of sex and heat. "I'm right on the edge..."

Artie opened her fully with his thumbs and attacked her flesh with his tongue. Claudia screamed, her back arching, as he drove her wild, his mouth exploring her in minute detail, his tongue stabbing at her core, his beard stimulating every surface. She rode the edge of orgasm for what felt like hours, forever in that area of bliss that occurred right before her flesh would spasm uncontrollably. Her body felt like it collapsed in on itself, her awareness focusing inward until she was nothing more than unending ecstasy, the tension so high she felt like she would explode at any moment but never did.

Artie's fingers took over for his mouth. "Claudia?"

"What, Artie?" she panted, barely able to focus enough to speak.

"The glory blossom makes you feel incredible, but it has a price. I need to ask you something, and you have to tell me the answer before I can make you come."

Claudia was nearly crying in frustration. "Anything, Artie, just hurry!" She threw her head back as his thick fingers worked their magic.

"Claudia Donovan, will you marry me?"

"_WHAT?" _His question shocked Claudia to her senses for a moment. "Are you serious?" Artie nodded, his face vulnerable.

She broke out into the biggest smile she had ever smiled. "Yes, yes, a thousand times, yes!"

Artie mounted her, his hardness against her core, and moaned when he thrust into her. She was hot and wet, coating him in exotic oils. He slid in and out of her easily, her flesh caressing his as he repeatedly plowed into her.

Claudia stiffened. Her awareness collapsed down into her core, and as she let loose a stream of nonsense words she fell over the edge into pure joy. Her heart skipped a beat, and Artie gasped and groaned as he rode her through an orgasm that lasted over two minutes, the effect of the glory blossom keeping him from blowing his load. When Claudia finally finished, the blossom released its hold on him and he exploded, his flesh surging as he filled her with sizzling heat of his own. Artie collapsed beside her, and the pair simply lay still for awhile, waiting for their bodies to relax. The glory blossom fell out of Claudia's hair.

After a time, Claudia spoke. "Do you realize what you just asked me?"

She could feel Artie smile. "Do you realize what you just answered?"

Claudia rolled over to rest on Artie's chest, his heartbeat relaxing her and making her feel safe. "You know my answer would have been the same without the blossom, don't you?"

Artie chuckled. "Yes, I knew, but it was more memorable this way."


End file.
